1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus that processes data in a form format.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, with regard to various form formats created freely by a user, a form format defining method is known that data transcription and tabulation are performed automatically with another form or data file by performing item definition to correlate relevant item names with data fields or data constituting form formats, identifying data that should be referred in data input/output of a form or a record, i.e., a group of data entry areas, in a formulaic manner.
For example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 1997-134349, the inventor proposed a method of achieving this method with excellent man-machine properties by additionally entering minimum characters and symbols familiar to a user in a form format.
With regard to each data field in a form format, in a method of specifying a field attribute such as a field format, a function is known that specifies a relevant data field range as a whole to specify the attribute value thereof from a field attribute screen displayed subsequently.
With regard to a method of calculating data on a table in a form format, a function is known that specifies a plurality of data in a column with, for example, a drag operation on a screen, to perform calculation such as a specified total process of the plurality of specified data and to enter the data of the calculation result in a specified calculation result entry space.
However, a form format used actually is often a composite format including another entry area (derived area) in a cell as shown in FIG. 10 described later and data entered in another entry area has a data entry condition different from the original entry area (main area).
Since only one piece of data is entered in each cell constituting a form in the case of form formats handled in form format defining methods that have been proposed so far, the automatic data input/output cannot be performed for the composite format including this type of derived area based on the above form definition.
If a user want to output data in the composite format including such derived areas, for example, a user must create another form such that a data entry condition of a constituent cell is equivalent to a data entry condition of each derived area of a target format and must copy acquired data onto the derived area of the target format one by one.
In the composite format including this type of derived areas, if a user want to specify a field attribute such as a layout format for a group of a plurality of main areas or a plurality of derived areas, since the main areas or derived areas to be specified are located alternately in either row or column direction, the user cannot use a known method of specifying a successive field range as a whole and must select the main areas or derived areas to be specified one by one.
If the large number of the main areas or derived areas specified, the operation of selecting the main areas or derived areas one by one in the composite format becomes troublesome correspondingly.
In the composite format including this type of derived areas, for example, if calculation such as a total process is performed in one column, data of the main areas and data of the derived areas in the column are summed separately and entered in the main area and derived area of a relevant total space, respectively.
However, since the main areas and derived areas are located alternately in one column in the composite format including the derived areas, for example, in the case of a composite format with the derived area located in the lower part of the cell, when the total calculation is performed in the column (vertical) direction, the data to be calculated must be selected alternately in the column direction.
In known table data calculating methods, a method of specifying a plurality of calculation target data together (e.g., specifying a plurality of data by dragging) is used only when the calculation target data are arranged serially in one row or one column. If the calculation target data are arranged discretely on a table as is the case of the composite format, the calculation target data must be selected separately and if large quantities of the calculation target data exist, a troublesome operation is required correspondingly.
The present invention was conceived in view of the above problems of conventional arts and it is therefore an object of the present invention to propose an information processing method and apparatus that can perform form format definition and automatic data input/output for the form format including this type of derived area with a simple operation at the same level as the specifying operation performed for a normal form format.
The present invention was conceived in view of the above problems of conventional arts and it is therefore another object of the present invention to propose an information processing method and apparatus that can perform table calculations for the form format including this type of derived area with an operation including a small number of operation procedures at the same level as the specifying operation performed for a normal form format.
The present invention was conceived in view of the above problems of conventional arts and it is therefore still another object of the present invention to propose an information processing method and apparatus that can specify field attributes for the form format including this type of derived area with an operation including a small number of operation procedures at the same level as the specifying operation performed for a normal form format.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide an information processing method and apparatus that can perform form format definition and automatic data input/output for the form format including the derived areas in a way providing visibility and readability that can be performed and understood by anyone.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide an information processing method and apparatus that can specify field attributes for the form format including the derived areas in a way providing visibility and readability that can be performed and understood by anyone.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide an information processing method and apparatus that can perform table calculations for the form format including the derived areas in a way providing visibility and readability that can be performed and understood by anyone.
In order to achieve the above objects, a table format data processing method in an information processing apparatus according to a first aspect of the invention is a table format data processing method that is an input/output method of a table format in an information processing apparatus, the table format being in a form of a composite unit data entry space where a data entry space is a constituent unit of a certain data field in a table and includes therein partial areas, which are a main area that is a first data entry area and a derived area that is a second data entry area, the method comprising the steps of:
performing item definition that corresponds an item name with each data field in the table;
specifying a difference condition, which is a difference portion specific to a data entry condition of the derived area from a data entry condition of the main area;
identifying from the table format a first record that is a combination of data to be concurrently referenced with the data in the main area or data entry areas of the data to be concurrently referenced with the data in the main area, based on the item name correlated with each data field in the table; and
generating a second record that is a combination of data to be concurrently referenced with the data in the derived area or data entry areas of the data to be concurrently referenced with the data in the derived area, based on the specified difference condition and the first record identified from the table format, wherein
data output to the derived area or data input from the derived area in the table format is effected based on the generated second record.
A table format data processing method in an information processing apparatus according to a second aspect of the invention, which is based on the first aspect of the invention, wherein the second record is generated by replacing data of a certain item in the first record with other data specified by the difference condition to generate.
A table format data processing method in an information processing apparatus according to a third aspect of the invention, which is based on the first aspect of the invention, wherein the second record is generated by adding data or a data entry area of an item specified by the difference condition to the first record.
A table format data processing method in an information processing apparatus according to a fourth aspect of the invention, which is based on the first aspect of the invention, wherein the difference condition is specified by additionally entering definition support entry information that can be differentiated from normal entry information, which is original entry information representing the table format of a document.
A table format data processing method in an information processing apparatus according to a fifth aspect of the invention, which is based on the fourth aspect of the invention, wherein the definition support entry information specifying the difference condition is differentiated by identifying certain entry modification information preliminarily assigned to the definition support entry information.
A table format data processing method in an information processing apparatus according to a sixth aspect of the invention, which is based on the fourth aspect of the invention, wherein the definition support entry information specifying the difference condition is differentiated by identifying a certain symbol or a certain graphical characteristic assigned to the definition support entry information.
A table format data processing method in an information processing apparatus according to a seventh aspect of the invention, which is based on the fifth aspect of the invention, wherein the definition support entry information specifying the difference condition is differentiated by identifying the entry modification information same as that differentiating the definition support entry information used for the item definition of the form format
A table format data processing method in an information processing apparatus according to an eighth aspect of the invention, which is based on the sixth aspect of the invention, wherein specification of an item name or specification of a data name performed in the specification of the difference condition is performed by using the certain symbol or the certain graphical characteristic used for specification of an item name or specification of a data name used in the item definition of the table format.
A table format data processing method in an information processing apparatus according to a ninth aspect of the present invention a data processing method of a table format in an information processing apparatus, the table format having a composite unit data entry space including a main area that is a first data entry area and a derived area that is a second data entry area as partial areas in a unit data entry space configuring a table format, the method comprising the steps of:
specifying a group of a plurality of the composite unit data entry spaces as one composite field; and
collectively performing specification of a field attribute of all the main areas or all the derived areas in the specified composite field for each composite field.
A table format data processing method in an information processing apparatus according to a tenth aspect of the invention, which is based on the ninth aspect of the invention, wherein the field attribute specification performed for each composite field is performed for one main area or one derived area selected from the composite field.
A table format data processing method in an information processing apparatus according to an eleventh aspect the invention is a data processing method of a table format, the table format having a composite unit data entry space comprising a main area that is a first data entry area and a derived area that is a second data entry area as partial areas in a unit data entry space configuring a table format, the method comprising the steps of:
specifying a group of unit data entry spaces as a composite field that is a group of composite unit data entry spaces in the table format;
correlating a plurality of composite unit data entry spaces in the specified composite field with one composite unit data entry space as a calculation result data entry space filled out with a result of calculation of data entered in the plurality of composite unit data entry spaces; and
entering data of the calculation result of the main area data or the derived area data of a plurality of the calculation target unit data entry spaces in the main area or the derived area of the composite unit data entry space of the calculation result data entry space.
A table format data processing method in an information processing apparatus according to a twelfth aspect the invention, which is based on the ninth aspect of the invention, wherein this method comprises the step of correlating a plurality of composite unit data entry spaces filled out with calculation target data with one composite unit data entry space as a calculation result data entry space, wherein the field attributes of the main area and the derived area in the specified calculation target composite unit data entry space are applied to the field attributes of the main area and the derived area in the composite unit data entry space of the calculation result data entry space.
A table format data processing method in an information processing apparatus according to a thirteenth aspect of the invention, which is based on the first, ninth and eleventh aspects of the invention, wherein certain symbols entered in the unit data entry space are recognized to identify the range of the derived area located in the unit data entry space.
A table format data processing method in an information processing apparatus according to a fourteenth aspect of the invention, which is based on the thirteenth aspect of the invention, wherein a derived area generating element is certain symbols regulating the range of the derived area and includes a ruled line.
A table format data processing method in an information processing apparatus according to a fifteenth aspect of the invention, which is based on the fourteenth aspect of the invention, wherein the ruled line used as the derived area generating element is identified by identifying a line type or line color of the ruled line.
A table format data processing method in an information processing apparatus according to a sixteenth aspect of the invention, which is based on the first aspect of the invention, comprising the step of identifying the type of the derived area generating element entered in the certain unit data entry space in a certain data field with the derived area defined and the position of the derived area generating element in the unit data entry space, wherein at the time of data output to the certain data field, the derived area generating element is automatically generated and entered in the unit data entry space not filed out with the derived area generating method in the certain data field.
An information processing apparatus according to a seventeenth aspect of the invention is a data processing apparatus of a table format, the table format being in a form of a composite unit data entry space where a data entry space is a constituent unit of a certain data field in a table and includes partial areas, which are a main area that is a first data entry area and a derived area that is a second data entry area, the apparatus comprising:
a means that performs item definition corresponding an item name with each data field in the table;
a means that specifies a difference condition, which is a difference portion specific to a data entry condition of the derived area from a data entry condition of the main area;
a means that identifies from the table format a first record that is a combination of data to be concurrently referenced with the data in the main area or data entry areas of the data to be concurrently referenced with the data in the main area, based on the item name correlated with each data field in the table; and
a means that generates a second record that is a combination of data to be concurrently referenced with the data in the derived area or data entry areas of the data to be concurrently referenced with the data in the derived area, based on the specified difference condition and the first record identified from the table format, the information processing apparatus performing data output to the derived area or data input from the derived area in the table format based on the generated second record.
An information processing apparatus according to an eighteenth aspect of the invention is a data processing apparatus of a table format, the table format having a composite unit data entry space comprising a main area that is a first data entry area and a derived area that is a second data entry area as partial areas in a unit data entry space configuring a table format, the apparatus comprising:
a means that specifies a group of a plurality of the composite unit data entry spaces as one composite field; and
a means that collectively performs specification of a field attribute of all the main areas or all the derived areas in the specified composite field for each composite field.
An information processing apparatus according to a nineteenth aspect of the invention is a data processing apparatus of a table format, the table format having a composite unit data entry space comprising a main area that is a first data entry area and a derived area that is a second data entry area as partial areas in a unit data entry space configuring a table format, the apparatus comprising:
a means that specifies a group of unit data entry spaces as a composite field that is a group of composite unit data entry spaces in the table format;
a means that correlates a plurality of composite unit data entry spaces in the specified composite field with one composite unit data entry space as a calculation result data entry space filled out with a result of calculation of data entered in the plurality of composite unit data entry spaces; and
a means that enters data of the calculation result of the main area data or the derived area data of a plurality of the calculation target unit data entry spaces in the main area or the derived area of the composite unit data entry space of the calculation result data entry space.
An information processing apparatus according to a twentieth aspect of the invention, which is based on the eighteenth aspect of the invention, comprising a means that correlates a plurality of composite unit data entry spaces filled out with calculation target data with one composite unit data entry space as a calculation result data entry space, wherein the field attributes of the main area and the derived area in the specified calculation target composite unit data entry space are applied to the field attributes of the main area and the derived area in the composite unit data entry space of the calculation result data entry space.
As described above, according to the present invention, even in the case of a complicated form format that is disposed with a second entry area, i.e., derived area in addition to an original data entry area, i.e., main area in one cell, form definition can be acquired to perform automatic data input/output by only performing a specifying operation of a simple difference condition in addition to the same item defining operation as the operation performed for a simple normal form format.
According to the present invention, in a composite form format that is disposed with a second entry area, i.e., derived area in addition to an original data entry area, i.e., main area in one cell, different field attributes can be given to the main area and the derived area with an effortless operation mainly including an operation of specifying serial composite fields together, and therefore, in a composite form format including a large number of cells, field attribution specification can be performed freely with a simple operation at the same level as the field attribution specifying operation in a normal simple form format.
According to the present invention, in a composite form format that is disposed with the derived area in one cell, table calculation can be performed with an effortless operation mainly including an operation of specifying serial composite fields together without the need of selecting one by one a plurality of calculation target data that is not arranged serially in many case, and therefore, in a composite form format, a calculation for a large quantities of data can be performed with a simple operation at the same level as a normal simple form format.
According to the present invention, in a composite form format that is disposed with the derived area in one cell, the input/output definition of a form, field attribute specification, and table calculation function can be performed with additional entry of strings that can understood by anyone and additional entry of predetermined definition support information including familiar characters, symbols, and graphics, and the definition content of the additional entry has a high degree of visibility, which may be understood by anyone obviously at a glance.
According to the present invention, in a composite form format that is disposed with the derived area in one cell, the input/output definition of a form, field attribute specification, and table calculation function can be performed with additional entry of a small number of characters, symbols, and graphics and therefore can be performed with an efficient operation with few errors.